Saturday, April 27, 2013

Bishop Endgame - Solution

Black to moveSolution: he must initiate a breakthrough on the queenside to create a second passed pawn. 1. ... b5! 2. axb5

( 2. Bxb5 Kxb3 -+ would give Black a passed 'c' pawn. )

2. ... f3+!

It is essential to open up the bishop to control 'b8' square, so that White does not get counterplay by advancing his own pawn. Material considerations are less important than strategic values!

( 2. ... a4? 3. Kf3 a3 4. b6 a2 5. b7 a1=Q 6. b8=Q+ = )

3. Kxf3 a4 4. Bd3 Kxb3 White resigned because he will have to give up the bishop for 'a' pawn. 0-1

This position is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

I think ebooks are a very promising media for chess content, and would be very interested to hear what you think about it.